Accounts Payable

The accounts payable staff is responsible for making payments owed by the college to suppliers and other creditors. There are three basic functions of the accounts payable department: vendor payments, student payments, and employee business expense reimbursements.

Use of Institutional Funds: As a not for profit organization, the college is required to allocate resources in a prudent manner that best supports its mission. Faculty and staff are expected to exercise care and good judgment when procuring goods and services and ensure the expenditure is necessary and reasonable to support the mission of the college. A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstance prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost.

Check Run Schedule

Checks are mailed and direct deposits processed each week on Friday.
Disbursement requests must be received by the business office by noon on Wednesday to be paid the following Friday. Please see the news and announcements section for any changes to this published schedule.

Documentation Requirements

To avoid delays in processing your disbursement requests, follow these guidelines, further policies can be found here:

Reimbursement requests must be submitted within 30 days after returning from a business trip or incurring a travel or entertainment expense, but no later than 60 days after incurring the expense.
Receipts must be itemized, show date of purchase, and include proof of payment.
Vendor invoices must clearly state the vendor name, remit to address, and the amount due.
Statements, packing lists, quotes, order confirmations, and estimates are not acceptable forms of support for payment.
Gift card guidance: The IRS considers all gift cards as taxable income. All gift cards must be reported to the IRS as income; there is no de minimis amount that is allowed to not be reported.
In some instances, it is acceptable to use gift cards, such as
1. A raffle prize.
2. In exchange for student participation in an event where they would not otherwise be paid as a student employee (e.g. survey participant, focus group participant, or panel member).
In these cases, if you purchase gift cards with college funds for students, staff, or faculty, you must report it to the business office so it can be reported to the IRS. Please upload a copy of this form (Excel) with your receipt and your request for reimbursement in Etrieve. If gift cards were purchased by P-Card, email a copy of the gift card form to accountspayable@reed.edu. Gift cards will be reported annually on form W-2 for faculty and staff recipients and on form 1099 for student recipients. Please direct questions to the business office.

Disbursement Documentation Requirements

Expense Type	What to include with the payment request?
Supplies	Invoice or itemized receipt showing the date of purchase and proof of payment
Travel	Itemized receipt showing the date of purchase and proof of payment
Personal vehicle used for business travel	Destination and the business reason for travel Google map printout showing total miles of trip IRS mileage rate Reimbursement for mileage only, not gas receipts exception to this rule is when a rental car is being used for business travel
Catering (not provided by Bon Appetit)	Invoice or itemized receipt with date of purchase and proof of payment Copy of approved catering exception request form
Entertainment	Invoice or itemized receipt with date of purchase and proof of payment Name of attendees or group Brief explanation of business purpose
Fees and services paid to domestic individuals and entities (non-corporations)	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Form W-9 Direct Deposit Form by Request
Fees and services paid to domestic corporations	Invoice which must clearly state the vendor name, remit to address, and the amount due Form W-9 Direct Deposit Form by Request
Fees and services paid to international individuals and entities–work performed outside the U.S.	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Form W-8BEN for individuals (instructions) Form W-8BEN-E for entities (instructions)
Fees and services paid to international individuals–work performed inside the U.S.	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Please contact the business office as soon as you decide to contract services. Reed uses Sprintax Tax Determination System to assist with the paperwork and tax withholding for international payments. The business office will create a Sprintax account for the individual. They will complete a questionnaire in Sprintax and Sprintax will generate the relevant tax documents.

Disbursement Request Forms

Submit a disbursement request form to the business office by logging into Etrieve Central.

As of June 1, 2021, all disbursements must be submitted via Etrieve Central—emailed and paper requests will no longer be accepted.

Vendors can continue to upload documents containing confidential information such as W-9 and direct deposit forms to the business office File Robot.

To avoid delays in processing your payment requests please follow these guidelines:

Provide the correct ORGN and account numbers.
Ensure all requests have department approvals.
Include all required documentation listed in the document requirements above.

Etrieve Central

Etrieve Central is a browser-based, mobile first management system for electronic forms and documents. Documents are routed to users via workflows for review and approval.

Download the Etrieve Disbursement Form User Guide

Contact the business office if you want to schedule a training session for your group or department.